


Promises To Keep

by HopeofDawn



Series: Giants of the Earth [3]
Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-23
Updated: 2012-12-23
Packaged: 2017-11-22 03:57:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/605565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HopeofDawn/pseuds/HopeofDawn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two friends, watching the stars and thinking of the future.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Promises To Keep

**Author's Note:**

  * For [femme4jack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/femme4jack/gifts).



> A Christmas gift for Femme4jack, who is awesome and requested Flipsides/Mikaela cuddles. Also, I fail at drabbles, apparently. :P
> 
> Recommended music score: [ Promises To Keep,](http://youtu.be/O4y_JRVvMPo) by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

Early mornings in the high desert were almost aways clear and cold. In December, they were teeth-chatteringly so. Shivering, Mikaela tucked her chin into her scarf, and wrapped her hands more firmly around her coffee cup. 

There was really no reason for her to be up this early. No urgent repairs, no last-minute conferences or early arrivals to chivvy around--nothing at all to make her leave the comfort of a warm bed. Nothing except a rare moment of peace and quiet in which to watch the stars, and the chance to see the world turn golden with the rising of the sun. 

Climbing up to her favorite overlook, Mikaela stopped short. Normally deserted, tonight the small rise was occupied by a large, shadowed form that gleamed yellow and orange in the starlight. The broad-shouldered frame was unmistakable in the dark, at least to someone who’d spent as much time learning Cybertronian anatomy as she had.

“Blaster?” Mikaela approached slowly, unsure if she was interrupting some kind of intergalactic comm transmission. Blaster didn’t usually strike her as a mech who required a lot of solitude. 

Blue optics came into view as Blaster inclined his helm, acknowledging her presence, but otherwise didn’t move from his seated position. “Mikaela,” he said, his voice pitched low and soft. 

A few more steps brought her to the top of the rise, and Mikaela could see that Blaster was cradling something--no, someone--against his broad, heavily-armored chest. A very small someone, with white and red plating, and … oh. “Is something wrong?” she said quietly, unsure if Flipsides was in recharge. She’d never seen any of Blaster’s symbionts recharge outside of their carrier, but … “Do you guys need to be alone?”

“Nah, we’re cool,” Blaster said easily, faceplates open and honest. “‘Sides here was just having a rough day. Just needed some downtime, ya know?” He shifted, glancing down at where the mechkin laid against him, cradled by one blunt-fingered hand and forearm. “‘You want to come up?” He lowered his free hand down to her.

Mikaela hesitated. “ … it’s okay with Flipsides?” 

Flipsides helm lifted; in the darkness, Mikaela couldn’t see his expression. “I don’t mind,” the mechkin said softly.

Taking the invitation at face value, Mikaela climbed into Blaster’s offered hand. Carefully juggling her coffee, she let the large mech lift her to where Flipsides was. The mechkin obligingly scooted over slightly to make room, and Mikaela tucked herself in next to him. Blaster’s plating was toasty-warm against the chilly air, she noticed in surprise. “Oh wow … this is nice,” she sighed, snuggling down next to Flipsides. Cybertronians were pretty efficient mechanisms, at least by Earth standards, and didn’t vent a lot of waste heat under normal circumstances. Blaster’s plating was noticeably warmer than normal operating temperature, however, and Mikaela could only assume the change was deliberate. “Is Blaster doing this for your benefit or mine?”

There was the low rumble of a Cybertronian chuckle from Blaster, and Flipsides smiled. “For me,” he confessed. He tapped his own chestplates in illustration. “Smaller power plant, plus less armor, means I have to work harder to stay warm. Blaster’s helping out.”

“Plus it feels nice,” Mikaela guessed, grinning.

“And it feels nice,” Flipsides agreed, sitting back with a sigh. He lifted an arm in silent invitation for Mikaela to cuddle closer and share the warmth, which she accepted gratefully. Nothing more seemed to be needed to said, and Mikaela tilted her head up, soaking in the gorgeous cascade of stars above them. Yucca Mountain was far enough from Las Vegas that the city lights had faded into almost nothing, leaving the swirl of stars to light up the darkness without interference. 

“So beautiful …” she said quietly. She’d been a city girl all her life, until coming here. In the city, the stars never looked like this, so bright and close it almost felt like she could reach out and touch them.

“Yes,” Flipsides said. Glancing over at him, Mikaela saw his optics also turned to the sky. On one particular portion of it, she noticed. The smile had faded from his faceplates, replaced with something more pensive. 

“You okay?” she asked, not sure if she was intruding, but wanting to help.

“I … was just remembering,” Flipsides replied, never taking his optics from that particular patch of stars. “Remembering old friends, old enemies. Cybertron is out there still … I wonder if we’ll ever see it again.” He rested a small hand against the heavy plates of Blaster’s supporting arm. “I wonder if I’ll even want to, even if I were given the chance. I remember how beautiful it used to be. To see it now … to see what we did to it ….” He shook his helm.

Mikaela was silent. How did you comfort a friend who’d seen horrors you couldn’t even imagine--who’d been at war for longer than your species had even existed? 

“It’s … stupid, and a cliche, I know,” she said slowly, knowing how inadequate the words were even as she said them. “But humans have a saying: ‘where’s there’s life, there’s hope.’” She looked up at that same little patch of stars, even though she knew she probably wasn’t seeing a fraction of what Flipsides could. “You’re still alive, and Blaster, and your brothers … and Optimus and so many others. Even--even if Cybertron isn’t what it was, it’s still waiting for you, right?”

Blaster had tilted his head down, looking at them both, but kept his silence. Mikaela reached out, feeling Flipsides tremble a bit as she splayed her hand over his chestplates, over his spark. “I know it seems easy for me to say, but … we humans, we die all the time. For the stupidest things. Especially once you know how big the universe really is, how amazing some of the people in it are-” she gave them both a fleeting smile, “-it’s so easy to feel like nothing you do will ever change anything. But …” She gave a helpless shrug, groping for the words. “But where there’s life, there’s hope. And it might be selfish, but--I’m hoping I’ll live long enough to someday see Cybertron along with you.”

“Mikaela …” Flipsides’ optics dimmed, then brightened again. “You’re right. Where there’s life … thank you. I’d almost forgotten.” He wrapped both arms around her in a careful hug, mindful as always of his own strength, and Mikaela did her best to return it without spilling coffee over them both.

“You’re welcome,” she told him. “Besides, I have ulterior motives. You guys are going to rebuild, and it’s going to be awesome, and I want to see it!”

They sat together, surrounded by Blaster’s warmth. Watching the stars … and the dark space between, where Cybertron waited for them. “Yes,” Flipsides said quietly. It sounded like a promise. “Yes, we will.”


End file.
